Livia D’Angelo, veterinarian by background, defended her Ph.D thesis on the study of the neuroanatomical architecture of the teleost fish Nothobranchius furzeri (the African turquoise killifish), and the identification and characterization of neurotrophins in the central nervous system of this model organism and their potential involvement in aging process. Since 2013, she is Researcher (tenure track position) in Veterinary Anatomy at the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions of University of Naples Federico II, and since 2017 she is Associate Researcher at Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Naples) in the Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms.
She has been visiting scientist at the Leibniz Institute on Age Research, Jena Germany twice.
As widely demonstrated by publications, her research activities have been focused mainly on the neurobiology of two aquatic research organisms, the turquoise killifish and zebrafish (Danio rerio), both help to address different and complementary key scientific questions related to development (zebrafish) and aging (killifish). Two main research lines in the field of neurobiology of fish have been developed: 1) regulatory role of neurotrophins in the developing and adult brain to better understand their reparativeneuronal mechanisms (zebrafish) and neurotrophins involvement in the brain aging process (killifish); 2) role of regulatory hypothalamic neuropeptides (i.e. orexin, NPY), evolutionary well conserved (at structural and functional levels). Recent collaborations have been established on mammalian brain, by focusing on the neurobiology of aging of mice, to dissect out potentially conserved mechanisms of brain aging in vertebrates.
She is author of 32 papers, all impacted on international journals, H index is 10. She is academic editor of PlosOne, and peer-reviewer of several international journal (PlosOne, Annals of Anatomy, Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, Cell Reports, Journal of Neuroscience Research, Journal of Anatomy, Journal of Comparative Neurology, etc). She is also in charge of Guest Associate Editor on Frontiers in Neuroanatomy to handle the Research Topic: “Brain Evolution: Clues from Aquatic Organisms”.
She has participated in numerous international and national conferences, either as selected abstract and invited speaker.
She is component of two research project: 1) FIAT (food intake in aged teleost) granted by University of Naples Federico II, 2) PathBio (Precision PathoBiology for Disease Models) AN ERASMUS+ KNOWLEDGE ALLIANCE CONSORTIUM, http://www.pathbio.org/about.php.
Since 2012, Livia has actively participated in the international Working Group (WG), composed of well recognized international scientists, to define guidelines for correct husbandry and management of zebrafish in laboratory facilities. The WG was established upon the COST Action BM0804 and fall within the activities of the European Federation of Laboratory Animal Sciences (FELASA). She is also serving FELASA as Italian representative in the board of management.
She is deeply involved also in the dissemination of using aquatic animals as research organisms, as demonstrated by the intense activity in workshops and meeting organization
